Better the devil you know
by Baby Jefer
Summary: Set in season 5 - Lindsay's trust in people has devastating consequences for her. It's getting exciting now! Chapter 5 now up.
1. A perfectly normal day

**Better the devil you know**

A/N: So, after four years I have decided to start writing fan fiction again, although this time it's CSI:NY. I do not own any of the characters, except the ones that I have added myself, but if the producers of the show want to get rid of any characters I would gladly take them off their hands!!!!

This is set in Series 5 after 5.09 so contains spoilers. D/L all the way!!!

**

Chapter 1 – A perfectly normal day

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Lindsay Monroe rolled over and slammed her hand down on the small, hard object that was making the offending noise, then rolled back to her previous position.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Obviously she had not hit it hard enough, so groaning loudly she flung herself over and hit the alarm clock three times just to make sure it had stopped. She stopped and listened, but once satisfied that it wasn't going to go off for at least seven minutes, she realised that she was more awake than asleep. Reaching over, she picked up the alarm clock and squinted at the numbers. 5.57 peered at her through the darkness. Lindsay pondered for a while. Should she use these three minutes to doze and daydream in a nice, warm bed? Or should she use the time to give her that little bit longer to get ready? Lindsay decided on the latter, after all now that she was carrying a little extra weight she seemed to have slowed down quite a lot.

Heaving herself off the bed, she padded barefoot into the bathroom and promptly stood on the scales. This was a ritual of hers that she performed every morning. At least, that was every morning Danny hadn't stayed over. Danny had been getting sick and tired of her weighing herself every morning, saying that she looked absolutely gorgeous and nothing would change that. Lindsay did not like feeling that she was judged, and instead of having a slanging match with him about it, she told him that she would limit herself to jumping on the scales once a week. Of course, what she really meant to say was once a week in front of him. But what he doesn't know can't harm him.

Lindsay glanced down at the number of the scales and groaned inwardly. When she had seen the doctor two weeks ago he had told her that she wasn't gaining as much weight as he would like and wanted her to be a particular weight when he next saw her, which was that afternoon. It wasn't that Lindsay did not want to gain the weight, it was just she did not have the time to sit down and eat three proper meals a day. She was a detective and a CSI for crying out loud, there wasn't much time for anything.

At the beginning of the pregnancy, when Lindsay had had her morning sickness, she hadn't really felt like eating anything anyway. Now she had past the 12 week mark, her appetite had come back along with a small bump that was somewhere between the 'eaten too much' and 'baby bump' stage. Danny had only accompanied to one doctor's appointment so far because due to his shifts, he had missed the others. Lindsay had been adamant that no one was to know she was pregnant until she had gotten the all clear from the doctor, which would be at her 12 week scan. She knew that the chance of a miscarriage was greater during the first trimester and she knew she wouldn't be able to stand the sympathetic looks if she had lost the baby. Fortunately for her, she was able to tell her co-workers that she was pregnant and now that they knew, Danny had asked Mac to have all of Lindsay's future appointments off so he could go with her. Of course, Mac had agreed and of course this meant that the doctor would speak to Danny about her lack of weight gain and he would definitely be making sure that she ate correctly.

Reaching her hand into the shower, she turned the dial to allow the water a chance to heat up before she stepped in. She stripped off her pyjamas – a pair of yoga leggings and an old t-shirt of Danny's – and got into the warm spray. Turning once, twice, three times she grabbed the shampoo that Danny loved and lathered it into her hair. The smell of lavender enveloped her and she inhaled deeply. Satisfied that all the shampoo had been removed, she quickly used her fingers to comb the accompanying conditioner through her hair and left it to soak in whilst she washed her body. Once her top half had been done, she lifted her legs up one at a time to apply the body wash. Lindsay made a mental note to herself that this was going to get more difficult over the coming months and would talk to Danny about staying over more regular, just so he could help her in the shower. Not that he would complain, Lindsay thought. Stepping directly under the water that was gushing out of the shower head, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to get immersed.

The sound of her phone ringing quickly broke through to her and she hurriedly washed the conditioner out of her hair, turned the shower off and grabbed the towel that was hanging over the radiator.

'Hey, baby. Is everything alright? You took a while to answer your phone.' Danny's concerned voice came through when she flipped the phone open. Lindsay rolled her eyes but decided to hold her tongue. She knew that Danny was just being nice but that didn't mean it didn't irritate her sometimes.

'I was just in the shower. What's going on?'

'Mac rang me and he's got a crime scene for us – body found at 14th and 8th. If you want I can swing by and pick you up?' Danny's voice had a hopeful hint to it.

Lindsay thought for a second. Yesterday, Danny had offered to pick her up but she had been feeling rough so had knocked him down. The hurt look on Danny's face when she met up with him had been pretty horrible to look at.

'I will get into your car if there's a blueberry muffin and a hot chocolate inside.'

Danny chuckled and said that the three of them would be round shortly. Lindsay waited until the call had disconnected before she closed her phone and chucked it down onto the bed while she decided what to wear.

**

Twenty minutes later Lindsay was sitting next to Danny eating her breakfast. She sighed happily when she inhaled the chocolate aroma and Danny smiled, picked up her hand and gave it a little kiss. Lindsay knew that she had not been the easiest person to be around the past few weeks so Danny had been really glad when she returned to her normal self.

'Did Mac tell you anything?' Lindsay asked. She had now finished her hot chocolate and was checking her face in the mirror.

'No more than what I told you,' he replied. 'Just there was a body found 14th and 8th. Flack's meeting us there. Man, this sun is bright today.'

Lindsay murmured in agreement and reached into the glove box to grab a pair of sunglasses that she kept there.

'Speaking of Flack, what's going on with him and Angell?' Lindsay glanced sideways at Danny.

'What do you mean?' Danny tried to feign innocence but his red cheeks were giving him away.

'Come on, Danny, I'm not stupid. He has totally fallen for her. In fact-' Lindsay trailed off.

'In fact what?' Danny asked. He swung the car around the corner to be confronted by the familiar yellow tape and three police cars. He stopped the car but instead of jumping out immediately, he turned and looked at Lindsay, waiting for her answer.

'Well...' Lindsay was trying to stall, but the look on his face said he wasn't going anywhere. 'Stella said that he reminds her of you when you were following me around like a lost puppy.' She leant over and planted a kiss on Danny's open mouth and then opened the door, hopped out the car and went to the boot to grab her kit.

Danny appeared next to her ten seconds later looking quite affronted.

'I did not follow you around like a lost puppy.' He told her indignantly. Lindsay just smiled at him and opened the rear passenger door to get her coat. Despite it being bright there was a distinct nip in the air.

'Whatever,' Lindsay buttoned her coat. 'I think it's quite sweet.'

Well, Danny thought to himself. If she liked it then he guessed he could live with it. Grabbing his kit from the car, he lowered the boot and pressing the button on the key fob twice, locked it. In front of him Lindsay was showing her ID to the police officer and signing herself in. Danny quickly followed suit and together they ducked under the yellow tape and made their way over to Flack who was standing by the body.

'Hey, if it isn't Mummy and Daddy.' Ever since Flack had found out about Lindsay's pregnancy and Danny being the father he took every opportunity to call them that. 'Are you going to be good today kid and not make Mummy throw up on my shoes?'

'I warned you not to get too close, Flack.' Lindsay said as she snapped her gloves on. 'But he's perfectly happy because he wanted a blueberry muffin and that's what he got.'

'He?' Flack asked, looking at Danny who shrugged his shoulders. 'Do you know the sex then?'

'Nope. I just have a feeling – women's intuition. I don't want to find out until the baby's born. Besides, it doesn't feel right to call the baby "it".'

'Fair enough. OK, so here's what we know. At about six a.m this morning someone placed an anonymous 911 call saying that he heard two gunshots in the area and heard a car drive off. We've tried to trace the call but it came back to a disposable cell.'

'Killer with a guilty conscience?' Danny wondered.

'Maybe,' Flack agreed. 'Or maybe he has a partner in crime that's trying to get him in trouble.'

'He?' Lindsay asked looking up from her position on the ground. She had started to photograph the body.

'Just a feeling – men's intuition.' Flack said with a grin. Shaking her head slightly, Lindsay sat back and surveyed the scene.

'It looks like this was a body dump. Look at the way the body is laid out.' Lindsay gestured with her hand and Danny knelt down to get a closer look. 'Also, there doesn't appear to be much blood.'

'You're right, Montana,' Danny agreed. 'From what I can see there are two entrance wounds. I'd expect there to be a lot more blood. But wait – Flack didn't you say that someone heard two gunshots at this location?'

'That's right.' Flack checked back through his notebook. Lindsay looked at Danny.

'Maybe they're trying to throw us off the scent of where the murder really took place.'

'Maybe. Or maybe there's a second body out there somewhere.'

'I'll canvass the surrounding buildings.' Flack pointed to the high rises surrounding them. 'See if anyone else heard or saw anything.'

'Great.' Lindsay leaned on Danny's shoulder and pulled herself to standing. 'I'm going to take these photographs back to the lab. Can you get a ride in with Flack?'

'Sure, no problem.' Danny quickly stood up next to her and gave her a squeeze. Ever since he had found out about the baby he had been a lot more affectionate. However, at work he was a lot more discreet about it. Especially since Mac had mentioned in a meeting once. Everyone had laughed and Danny had sunk lower and lower down his chair, his face going bright red.

Waving goodbye, Lindsay ducked under the yellow tape and made her way back to the car. Climbing in, she started the engine and immediately changed the radio station. Once she was satisfied with the tune that was coming out of the speakers she set off, pausing briefly as the lights changed from red to green.

**

It took Lindsay half an hour to reach the crime lab. It was now rush hour and Lindsay had crawled along. It was partly her fault, she had forgotten they were doing roadworks and so had to double back on herself. She parked in the garage and took the lift up to the 35th floor. There was a gently ding and the doors slowly opened.

'Detective Monroe?' A voice called to her as she passed the reception desk. Turning back, Lindsay saw Andi, a vibrant woman with long, dark, dread-locked hair and a slight Jamaican accent looking expectantly at her.

'Yes, Andi.' Lindsay was still in two minds about whether she liked Andi or not. Andi had arrived four months ago and some people thought that she was quite loud and brash. On the other hand, she was also a great listener and had a great shoulder to cry on when Lindsay had discovered she was pregnant.

'Someone has been phoning and asking for you non-stop since I arrived this morning.'

Lindsay glanced at the clock. 'You've only been here twenty minutes.'

'Exactly!' Andi's hands slammed down on the desk, causing Lindsay to jump slightly. 'He's rung at least four times and-'

She was interrupted by the shrill sound of a telephone. Andi tutted and rolled her eyes.

'That's probably him now.' She picked up the receiver. 'New York Crime Lab, Andi speaking. How may I direct your call?'

Andi listened for a moment then handed the phone to Lindsay. 'It's for you.'

'Hello? This is Detective Monroe.' Lindsay's face changed from confused to delight. 'Nate! How are you?....Mum told you did she?' She glanced down at her stomach, smiling. 'What? You're coming to New York? When?....No, no. Don't stay in a hotel. You can come and stay with me....Yes, I'm sure....Danny won't mind....What time does your plane get in next week?' Lindsay motioned to Andi to hand her a piece of paper and a pen. She hurriedly wrote down the details. 'Uhuh...uhuh...And that's JFK?...Newark, alright. Well, I'll see you then...Bye, Nate!'

Lindsay handed the receiver back to Andi who was looking at her as if she was trying to read her mind.

'Nate's a friend from Montana. We've never dated or slept together.' Lindsay new that if she didn't straighten it out then it would be around the lab in twenty minutes.

Andi held up her hands in a 'I wasn't going to say anything' gesture. Lindsay nodded, not entirely believing her and wandered in the direction of her office.

Hanging her coat neatly on the back of the door, she made her way over to her desk and turned her computer on. Sitting on her swivel chair, she flung herself round five times as she waited for the system to boot up. This was a ritual of hers that she did every time she sat at her desk for the first time. It was her way of getting any silliness out of her system and it helped her to focus. Danny had laughed at her the first time he saw her do it but she had just smiled and dared him to have a go. For the next five minutes they had swung themselves round on their chairs, laughing, only to be interrupted by a stern looking Mac who had said there was a time for play and this wasn't one of them. Danny had retorted that it had been Lindsay's idea but Mac's reply was that Danny must have brought it on himself, which earned a snort from Lindsay.

Ever since Mac had found out about the pregnancy, Lindsay was limited to the layout room and the A/V lab. If Danny had his way then she also wouldn't be allowed to do field work but Lindsay had stuck fast, saying that she wasn't incapable of doing field work just because she was pregnant. Danny finally relented after a few days of cold shoulders and mournful looks on Lindsay's part, on the agreement that she would stop once she was too large to manoeuvre easily and if he accompanied her.

Lindsay knew that there was no point in looking at the photographs she had taken until Danny returned and the body was back. She quickly checked her e-mails, finding one from Mac about the upcoming lab meeting and one from Danny which should not be read by anyone, especially your boss.

'Lindsay?' A voice said softly from the doorway. Lindsay looked up to see Mac standing there.

'Mac. What can I do you for?' Lindsay glanced sideways at her computer screen to make sure the e-mail from Danny was not visible.

'Where's Danny?'

'He's still down at the crime scene collecting evidence and waiting for the body to be collected. Do you need him?'

'Nothing that can't wait. What did you find?'

'Flack said there was an anonymous phone call from a disposable cell saying they heard two gunshots and a car driving away from the location. But on inspection of the body it looks like it was just a body dump and that the primary crime scene is somewhere different.'

'So, what do you think, Lindsay?' Mac asked.

'Well, we thought that either there's a second victim out there somewhere or that they're trying to throw us off the scent. When Danny returns I'm going to go and look a the photos of the scene in the layout room.'

'Very good, let me know what transpires.' Mac turned to leave. 'Oh, and why don't you go down to the morgue and find out what Sid knows later.'

'Will do, Mac. Thanks.' Lindsay was grateful to be able to do something. She sometimes felt so useless being on limited duties at the lab.

**

Flack and Danny arrived at the crime lab forty minutes later. The body had been picked up by the coroner and Sid would have the results of the autopsy that afternoon. However, any evidence would be ready for collection shortly. Lindsay, who had gotten bored waiting for Danny and started to go over the crime scene photos anyway, decided that she would go and speak to Danny about her friend Nate. Walking the short distance to the trace lab, she knocked on the glass.

Danny looked up and Lindsay beckoned him to come up. Securing a piece of evidence that he had found a short distance from the body, he snapped his gloves off and made his way out to her.

'What can I do you for, Montana?'

'You haven't forgotten the doctor's appointment at 3 o'clock have you?'

'Of course not. You have reminded at least six times. Besides, I knew that if I forgot I'd be sleeping by myself until after the baby was born.'

'Too right you would.' Lindsay replied with a smile. 'So, we need to leave here by quarter past 2 at the latest. You know what traffic can be like.'

'Whatever you say, babe.' Danny looked at her. 'Is there anything else?'

'Yes. You know my friend Nate?'

'The one in that picture on your sideboard?' Danny was referring to a picture of Lindsay and a man sitting on two horses.

'Yes, him. Well, he's coming to New York next week for a week or so. I said that he could stay with me. Is that alright?' Lindsay looked at him, slightly worried.

'Why would that not be alright? He's your friend isn't he?'

'Yes, but I thought the fact that he was a guy and staying in my apartment...' Lindsay trailed off.

'Look, Lindsay,' Danny placed his hands on her shoulders. 'I'm not the kind of guy to get jealous of friends that you have, whether they are male or female. But I do become jealous if they start making a move on you.'

'Does that include my female friends?' Lindsay asked with a giggle.

'Depends.' Danny said with a slight shrug. Lindsay gave him a questioning look. 'Depends if I could watch or not.'

Lindsay gave Danny a playful slap on the arm and then turned to head towards the lift.

'Where are you going?' Danny called after her.

'To see a man about a horse.' Lindsay called back, stepping into the lift and pressing the button to take her to the morgue.

**

To be continued.

A/N: Well, there you have it – the first chapter. If you like it, please read and review!


	2. Maintaining Relationships

**Better the devil you know**

A/N: Thanks so much for the kind reviews and adding this story to your story alerts. I hope this next chapter is just as good (if not better!). Sorry for the long delay in updating – I am in the middle of buying a house so a lot of time is being taken up with that. The house is now mine – woohoo! So hopefully I can get back to this.

OK, here is the second chapter of the story. It's set pretty much straight after the end of the first chapter. Remember – CSI:NY characters belong to TPTB. My characters belong to me! Enjoy!!

BTW, cheers to laurzz for so kindly reading my chapters for me and letting me know if it's ok or not (so if you don't like it – blame her...hee hee!)

Set after 5.09 so contains spoilers – D/L all the way!!!

**

Chapter 2 – Maintaining relationships.

As Lindsay stepped out of the lift she shivered and wished that she had bought her coat down with her. It was always colder in the morgue than up in the lab. She grabbed a blue lab coat and made her way over to Sid who was peering at the body. He had removed the vic's clothing and placed them in a sterile bowl along with his personal possessions on the side.

'Have you found anything out, Sid?' Lindsay stepped up to the cold, steel table.

'Yes,' Sid said, turning slightly towards the personal possessions. He picked up a black, leather wallet and flipped it open. 'Your vic is called Mark Foreman from North Dakota.'

'That's a long way to come to die. May I?' Lindsay held her hand out and Sid passed her the wallet. She inspected its contents.

'There's $300 here. So clearly this wasn't robbery.'

'Don't be so sure of that.' Sid picked up Mark's left wrist. 'There is clear indication that he was wearing a watch recently.'

'Maybe it was quite an expensive watch. After all, he's carrying a lot of money.' Lindsay peered with a magnifying glass at the patch of skin. 'There appears to be an imprint. Maybe it can tell us what make it is. Once you've done the autopsy can I have that bit of skin please, Sid.'

'I will bring it up personally, Lindsay. I'll bring up the results of the autopsy at the same time.'

Lindsay plastered a smile on her face. She understood that everyone was just trying to be helpful but sometimes they could be too helpful.

'That's alright, Sid.' Lindsay said as she picked up the bag of possessions. 'I could do with the walk again. Just let me know when you're ready.'

She turned and headed back to the lift, remembering to hang up the lab coat on the way out. The lift slowly started to rise and then stopped on the floor of the main entrance. The doors opened and Detective Angell stepped inside. Lindsay was always amicable with Jess but there was a slight undertone of cautiousness. Ever since she had been told by a colleague that whilst she had been in Montana, Danny and Jess had worked on several cases together, getting on like a house on fire, she had been slightly unsure as to Jess's feelings about Danny. But now she was fairly sure that something was happening with her and Flack, she could relax slightly.

'Hey, Jess. What are you working on?'

'Me, Mac and Stella have got a floater in the Hudson. She'd been there a few days so the smell was a bit...' Angell wafted her hand in front of her nose and Lindsay giggled.

'I don't think I could do a body that had been left a few days now. The smell would just make me vomit or pass out.'

Angell glanced sideways at Lindsay. 'Lindsay?' She said hesitantly.

Lindsay turned to her expectantly.

'I-I just want to say that you don't have to worry about me and Danny. There is nothing going on.' Angell looked slightly nervous as she said this. 'When I first teamed up with the crime lab, I have to admit that I thought Danny was cute and if something had happened then I wouldn't have said no.'

Lindsay looked alarmed. She had always had her concerns but had thought they were purely in her head. Now there was the possibility that something could have happened between Danny and Angell.

'Danny made it pretty clear that the only person he was interested in came from a state beginning with 'M' and I'm from Ohio.' Angell's attempt at a little joke made Lindsay smile.

'I wasn't worried....OK, I was slightly worried,' Lindsay added hastily after the look Jess gave her. 'I had no right to be though. I wasn't with Danny at the time and after the way I treated him I was surprised that he still wanted to be with me.' Lindsay's voice trailed off, thinking about what could have happened if he hadn't flown all the way to Montana to be with her.

'Look, Danny loves you. You can see it in the ways he looks at you.'

Lindsay sniffed and felt her eyes fill with tears. She hated being so emotional.

'Yea? Then why doesn't he say tell me?' She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue that she had in her pocket.

'I doubt Danny is the kind of guy who would say "I love you" to his Mum unless it was her birthday or something.'

Lindsay laughed and nodded. It had been Carla's birthday last week, so Lindsay and Danny had gone round for dinner. The whole family had been there and Danny decided that it was the best time to announce the pregnancy. Everyone started screaming and running around to hug the happy couple. When it was time to leave Carla gave Danny and Lindsay two massive hugs and Danny had awkwardly told his Mum 'Happy Birthday' and that he loved her.

Danny was definitely not one to verbalise his feelings but he was extremely good at showing them. However, Lindsay wished that sometimes he could just tell her as well as showing her, after all, she wasn't stupid enough to give up the presents and dates.

By the time the lift doors opened on the 35th floor, Lindsay had composed herself. She waved goodbye to Angell who headed in the other direction and headed towards the layout room. Setting herself up on a table, she put a pair of gloves on and laid out the first item of the victim's clothing – a pair of light blue jeans. Using a magnifying glass, she carefully scoured the denim for any abnormal pieces of trace. Quite early on, Lindsay noticed a hair was stuck in the zip. She carefully removed it, placing it in a petri dish for analysis. Continuing her search, she discovered a small stone in one of the back pockets. It was possible that they could find out where the stone came from by its type and if there were any chemicals on it.

Lindsay's searches of the other items of clothing did not turn up much, except a pink lipstick mark on the underside of the shirt collar. Lindsay wanted to assume that it belonged to whoever's hair was stuck in the zip but working in this job had taught her to assume nothing. She swabbed it, then took a print. Hopefully there would be enough DNA to get a hit.

Knowing that she wouldn't be able to run the analyses on the various items she found, Lindsay decided to go and look for Adam to help her. She found him bent over a microscope, every so often he would look away and make a jotting in his notebook. He had his headphones on and appeared to be 'in the zone'.

Lindsay crept up behind him quietly and then quickly pinched his sides. Adam screamed and jumped a mile in the air. He whipped round to find Lindsay giggling. Glaring at her, he turned off his music and removed his headphones.

'That's not funny, Lindsay. Would you like it if I did it to you?'

'Well, you wouldn't because anything that stresses me out could "be harmful to me and the baby",' Lindsay did air-quotes as she said something Danny had repeated many, many times to everyone who worked with Lindsay. 'And Danny would kill you if that happened.'

Adam quickly glanced around nervously, just in case Danny was hiding somewhere. Normally, Adam was only a teeny tiny bit concerned about Danny and his emotions. But ever since Lindsay had become pregnant, Danny's fuse seemed to be a lot shorter and no one, especially Adam, wanted to do or say anything to anger him.

'What have you got for me?' Adam asked hastily.

Lindsay held up each item one at a time. 'Just a few pieces of trace from the vic's clothing. I found a hair stuck in the zip of his jeans and a lipstick mark on the shirt collar. I have swabbed and printed the mark for you to check for epithelials and DNA,' She handed the three items over and then held up the last one. 'This stone I found in a back pocket. Find out where it's from will you?'

'I've just got to finish running this print for Stella and then I'll get right on it.' Adam placed the items down in his 'priority' box to remind him they were to be done soon. 'So, what time's your scan?'

'3 o'clock. How do you know about it anyway?'

Adam shrugged. 'Danny's been going round telling everyone. He's so excited.'

'Yea he is...' A small smile played on Lindsay's lips thinking about how much better their relationship had been. It wasn't just finding out about the baby, but now that Danny had come to peace with Ruben's death he had started to open up to Lindsay more and more. They had become closer than ever, then she found out a couple of weeks later that she was pregnant.

'Lindsay? Lindsay?' Adam's voice shook her out of her daydream. 'You alright?'

'Yes, absolutely fine.' Lindsay smiled at him. 'Thanks, for helping me out, Adam. I've got the vic's wallet so I'm going to check out his details, see if there's anything on him.'

'Do you have his credit cards?'

'Yes, that's the strange thing. There were four credit cards and $300 in the wallet, but his watch has been stolen. Once Sid has finished the autopsy I'm hoping to find out what make the watch was by the mark it left on his wrist.'

'Well, if you need any help – just shout.' Adam told her sincerely.

'Cheers, Adam.' Lindsay gave a smile and a wave as she headed off to find out everything she could about Mark Foreman.

**

'Lindsay? Lindsay!' A sudden shake on her shoulder quickly caused Lindsay to startle. She looked around bewildered to see Stella standing next to her.

'Sorry, Stella. I must have fallen asleep.' Lindsay sat up in her chair and stretched. She glanced at the screen in front of her. Mark Foreman wasn't in the system.

'What have you found out about your vic?' Stella asked, peering at the computer.

'Well, Mark Foreman hasn't committed any crimes. At least, he hasn't been caught committing any crimes. I'm just running his credit cards to see if I can find out when they were last used...That's odd.'

'What is it?'

'Well, according to his records, the last time his card was used was two weeks ago in Jamestown, North Dakota which is where he is from and that was to draw out $300, which is in his wallet.'

'So you're telling me that your vic took out $300 two weeks ago and he hasn't spent a penny of it?'

'Yep. Something is definitely not right here. I'm going down to see Sid to find out what he knows.'

With that, Lindsay hurried out of the room and towards the lift. Something bizarre was going on with her vic. Lindsay would be the first to admit that she didn't spend lots of money, but even she would touch some of the $300 she withdrew, especially if she was going travelling.

'Look, Lindsay, I'm right on time.' Danny's voice caused her to turn quickly towards it.

'What?' Lindsay had no idea what he was talking about.

'It's quarter past 2!' Danny said proudly, showing her his watch. Oh, right. The doctor's appointment. Lindsay had been so caught up in the case that she had completely forgotten about it. 'Is everything alright?'

'Yes, just some strange stuff going on with our vic. I'll fill you in in the car.' Lindsay headed towards the lift with Danny right behind her.

As they stepped inside, Danny grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. Lindsay turned to him expectantly.

'Are you excited? We're going to see our baby!' The grin on Danny's face was infectious.

Lindsay grinned back and nodded. She was definitely excited.

**

A/N: There is the end of the chapter. I hope you liked it. I know not much time has passed in it but I wanted to establish some of Lindsay's relationships between people as later on, these will become very important. If you liked the story, please review!!!


	3. Trips down memory lane

**Better the devil you know**

A/N: Cheers for all the reviews and people adding to their favourite stories and story alerts. So sorry for not updating for ages but as I am now working I don't have as much free time as before!!!

The third chapter begins a few hours after the end of the last one, with flashbacks (including ones of THAT night and my version of how Danny found out, based on the promo). CSI:NY characters belong to someone else. My characters belong to me!

Cheers to laurzz for the read through!!

Set after 5.09 so contains spoilers – D/L all the way!!

**

Chapter 3 – Trips Down Memory Lane

Lindsay stretched out on the sofa, kicking her shoes off as she did so. In one hand was a can of lemonade and in the other a scan of her baby. Their baby. Hers and Danny's. She had never expected that she would be saying those words, at least not right now. Ever since that fateful night on the pool table their relationship had gone from strength to strength. Although you would never know this from the way they behaved at work. Both of them were professional people and had had the rule of 'no relationship stuff' at work, but that had gone out the window when Lindsay had become pregnant. Their relationship had been going so well that Lindsay had started discussing the possibility of moving in together. But then tragedy occurred when Ruben Sandoval had been shot and killed. Overcome by grief, Danny had turned away from her and found solace in the arms of Ruben's mother Rikki. During those few weeks when Danny had been cold and distant Lindsay had had a nagging feeling that something had happened between the two of them. It wasn't until that evening, after her rain walk when she had decided to go round and tell Danny in person how hard he was to love that she found out the truth.

**

_Flashback_

_'Can I get you a beer or anything?' Danny asked nervously as he hovered by the sofa where Lindsay was sitting. She had shown up five minutes ago and apart from the greetings and being invited in, nothing had been said until now._

_'A beer would be great.' Lindsay replied, grateful that she would have something to hold onto instead of gripping the edge of the sofa. Danny disappeared into the kitchen, returning a moment later with two bottles. He handed one to her as he sat down at the opposite end of the sofa to her. They simultaneously took a swig of their drinks, both waiting for the other to say something._

_'What's with the cup of sugar?' Lindsay said, gesturing her head towards the item that sat on the coffee table. Danny glanced at it, deciding whether to tell the truth or not._

_'It's from Rikki. Y'know – borrowing a cup of sugar when you move in?'_

_'But you've not just moved in.' Lindsay stated._

_'I know, but she's moving out. She wanted to do something neighbourly before she went.' _

_'Did you sleep with her?' The words came out in a calm and controlled manner but Danny could see her hand trembling. He opened his mouth, closed it and when he saw the look in Lindsay's eyes, knowing she already knew the answer, simply nodded. Lindsay nodded back, unsure of what to do next. Even though in her heart she knew he would say yes, there was still a part of her that desperately had wanted him to deny it, to say that she had been the only one for him since that magical night. _

_Lindsay glanced around the room, her mind going into overdrive as to all the places they could have done it. Finally her eyes settled on the pool table, which had been moved into the spare bedroom. Following her gaze, Danny quickly shook his head and set his beer down on the floor._

_'Lindsay. Lindsay, look at me.' Danny said pleadingly, taking her hands in his. Looking down, Lindsay shook her head vehemently from side to side. _

_'No...No....NO!' Lindsay sobbed, pulling her hands away from him and pulled herself into the corner of the couch._

_'Please, Lindsay, let me explain-' Danny started but was quickly cut off by Lindsay's sobs becoming louder and louder. She clamped her hands over her eyes, desperate to drown at the noise of Danny and his pathetic excuses. He could not explain, even if he wanted to because to Lindsay, there was no explanation, no excuse for what he had done. She had known exactly what he was going through. After all, she had lost friends before their time. She should haven been the one that Danny had turned to. She could have offered him a shoulder to cry on, she could have offered him an ear to bend, she could even have offered him someone to sleep with, seeing as that was how he got his comfort. But no, instead he had turned to another woman and had gotten it all from her. _

_'Baby, please-' At that Lindsay looked up suddenly, her eyes flashing with anger._

_'Don't you dare! Don't you dare call me that!' She screamed as she hopped off the sofa. Hurrying towards the bathroom, she could feel Danny hot on her tail. 'And don't you dare follow me!' _

_Quickly, she went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her and locking it. Danny could hear her cries and wails through the door. He was starting to get choked up himself. Whenever his friends used to get upset when their girlfriends were upset, he used to take the piss so much. Now he knew exactly what they went through. The reason Lindsay was crying was because of him. He had caused her pain and he wanted to be the one to stop it._

_Not sure of what to do, Danny sat down outside the bathroom door, deciding not to move until she came out. After several minutes Lindsay's crying got quieter and quieter until all Danny could hear was the soft sound of sniffles and sighs. He decided to try talking to her again._

_'Lindsay, how many times have we made love?'_

_There was a silence before a small voice from behind the door replied. 'I guess around seventy?'_

_'It's seventy eight to be exact.'_

_'You kept count?'_

_'Yep. Every single time we made love I remember. I remember where we were, what you were wearing, the noises you made. Every single time is special to me. Every single time we made love, it was not sex.'_

_'I thought that time by the door was pretty sexy.' Lindsay said innocently. She couldn't understand it. Did Danny think their love making was tame?_

_Danny chuckled. 'No, darling, every time we made love it was beautiful and sexy and passionate. Even those quickies we used to have in the mornings, I counted as making love.'_

_'Why?'_

_'Because to me sex is just sex. A means to an end to get momentary pleasure. Whenever we made love the pleasure was long lasting. I never wanted to have just sex with you. I never wanted to make you feel used.'_

_The locked clicked and the bathroom door slowly opened. Danny stood up quickly to become face to face with Lindsay. Her eyes were still slightly wet and her hair messed up. He gave a small smile as she stepped towards him. _

_'I don't mind being used from time to time.' She told him and before he could reply, her lips found his in their first kiss in months. Shocked at what was going on, Danny just stood there wondering if he was dreaming. No, Lindsay was definitely kissing him. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he drew her towards him. He never wanted this moment to end. But it did. Suddenly Lindsay pulled away. Danny tried to kiss her again but she held her hand up between their mouths._

_'As I was saying, I don't mind being used from time to time but only if I get to use you.' Her eyes darkened and Danny swept her up and carried her towards the pool table._

_End Flashback_

_**_

Lindsay remembered they had made love three times that night, bringing their then total to eighty one. She could say for sure which time it was they conceived their child but she reckoned it must have been the last one. Danny had refused to go into the bedroom as that had been where his 'Lindsay betrayal' had taken place. He did not want to make love to Lindsay in that room until he had sorted it out. But Lindsay simply took him by the hand and led him in there. She wanted to show him that it was time to start afresh. However, she did not take him to the bed but instead to the comfy chair that sat in the corner of the room. That chair was special to both of them so conceiving the baby there would have been the perfect place.

'You doing okay in there, Montana?' Danny's voice shook Lindsay from her thoughts. She had missed him calling her Montana so every time she heard it now, she treasured the moment.

'Yea, fine. Thanks....What's for dinner?' She called out after a moment.

'Lasagne.' Lindsay nodded to herself. Lasagne was the only thing Danny knew how to cook. Despite his mother attempting to teach him various recipes over the years, Lasagne was the only one that had stuck. Not that Lindsay disliked lasagne but she was definitely going to be teaching Danny how to make some different meals before she got too big to cook herself. She liked variety with her food and the thought of eating Lasagne every night for goodness how long made her feel like screaming.

'Do you need a hand?'

'No, baby, you sit and relax. The doctor said you hadn't put enough weight on and I wouldn't want you losing any more just because you were helping me.'

Lindsay laughed to herself. Walking from the living room to the kitchen was not going to suddenly make her lose 2lbs. Many people probably wished it would though, Lindsay thought as she picked up the remote control to switch the telly on. Flicking through the channels, she finally settled on the news. As she watched the reporter drone in about a fire at a little bakery in the East Village, her mind wandered back to her doctor's appointment that afternoon.

**

_Flashback_

_'What's your postcode?' Danny asked as he held the clipboard, pen and paper. _

_'10022.' Lindsay replied, not looking up from her newspaper._

_'And what's your social security number?' He asked a moment later. _

_Lindsay put her paper down on her lap and looked at him. 'Would it be easier if I filled it in myself.'_

_'No, no. I can fill the rest in, it's just these two little bits that I don't know.' Danny told her. Lindsay nodded and leaned over him to fill out the number. Glancing down at the rest of the form she pointed to one particular question._

_'So you know who to put for my "in case of emergency contact" do you?'_

_'Well...' Danny trailed off. He had assumed it would have been him. Was she implying that he wasn't her "in case of emergency contact"? Danny wasn't sure he could handle this. _

_Seeing the panicked look on Danny's face, Lindsay giggled and patted him on the head. 'Don't worry. It is you. As long as you know your address and phone number.'_

_Danny nodded and sighed in relief. He quickly filled out the rest of the form and went up to the receptionist to hand it in._

_'Uh, how much longer do you think we will be?'_

_The surly faced receptionist looked up, popping her gum loudly. 'When the doctor's ready.'_

_'But-' Danny began but a hand pulled him backwards._

_'Come on, Danny.' Lindsay had dealt with the receptionist on numerous occasions and she knew not to anger her. As they sat back down, Lindsay murmured in Danny's ear. 'Never argue with a doctor's receptionist. You will always lose.' _

_Danny snorted, remembering one time he had gone to the doctor's with his Mum. He had been about eight years old and the only appointment his Mum could get for him was during the school day. She had picked him up promptly at ten for his appointment at twenty past. They had registered with the nurse and then sat down patiently to wait their turn. Well, twenty past ten came and went, but the doctor had not appeared. Danny's Mum had gone up to ask what was going on, and though he's not sure how, the two women had gotten into a massive argument and she made them wait until 11 o'clock to see the doctor._

_'Lindsay Monroe?' A female voice called out, shaking Danny from his thoughts. Standing up, Danny held his hand out to his girlfriend who took it and they followed the nurse down the corridor. Lindsay knew the drill so she gestured to Danny to sit down in one of the hard, plastic chair._

_'Aren't I coming in with you?' Danny asked, confused._

_'I'm only getting weighed and my blood pressure checked now. The doctor is in a different room.'_

_Danny nodded, satisfied that he wasn't being left out and sat down. Lindsay followed the nurse into a small room and immediately jumped on the scales. The nurse peered closely at the weight showing, making a note of it in Lindsay's file._

_'Thank you, Lindsay. Have a seat whilst I do your blood pressure.'_

_'Cheers, Janet.' Lindsay sat down in one of the chairs by the desk. Janet opened a drawer and pulled out her blood pressure cuff. Wrapping it around the top of Lindsay's right arm, she pumped it up quickly. The black cuff grew tighter and tighter until Lindsay thought her arm was going to explode. Then the pressure was released as Janet found her pulse._

_'I'll just write this down and then we can go straight in to see Dr Hillary.' Janet found the correct page in Lindsay's file and wrote down the results. The two women stood up and went out of the room. As Danny saw them approaching, he jumped up and walked with them towards the doctor's exam room._

_'So, is this the father, Lindsay?' _

_'Yes, this my boyfriend, Danny Messer.' Lindsay said proudly, taking Danny's arm and giving it a squeeze. Whenever she introduced Danny as her boyfriend it made her feel so happy and warm inside. Danny's reaction to hearing her calling him her boyfriend was always the same, a massive grin would appear on his face and it would take a lot to shake it from his face for the next few hours._

_'Dr Hillary? Lindsay Monroe is here to see you.' Janet knocked on the open door as she walked in, followed by the expectant parents. She handed the file to the doctor, said goodbye to Lindsay and Danny and walked out to get ready for the next patient. _

_'Ah, Lindsay, so good to see you again. Come and have a seat.' Dr Hillary gestured to one of the two chairs by his desk. Lindsay sat down in one and, following her lead, Danny sat down in the other._

_'Danny, nice to see you again. You managed to get the time off today?' _

_'Yes, our boss now knows about the pregnancy so I'm coming to every appointment with Lindsay.'_

_'Wonderful. That's wonderful. It's so nice to see a father who is interested in the pregnancy. It's not like it used to be.' Dr Percival Hillary had been an obstetrician for over 30 years now and he had seen many changes throughout his career. When Danny had first met Dr Hillary, he had raised his concerns with Lindsay that the doctor would have a heart attack during the delivery. Lindsay had rolled her eyes and told him that he had been recommended to her by many of her friend's friends and was one of the best obstetricians in Manhattan. Danny had relented but insisted on reading up on how to deliver the baby himself, just in case it came to that._

_'So, how have you been, Lindsay?'_

_'I'm doing OK. Still feel a little nauseous in the mornings but I haven't been sick since we last met. My tiredness seems to kick in around lunchtime so I've been taken naps during my lunch break, which helps.'_

_'Good, good.' Dr Hillary said absent-mindedly as he flicked through Lindsay's file. 'Have you been eating during your lunch breaks as well?'_

_'Er...' Lindsay started, trying to answer the question as truthfully as possible. 'I have been eating...when I can. Sometimes it's just too difficult when you work in such a busy job.'_

_'I appreciate that, Lindsay but if you do not eat properly then it can be harmful to you and the baby.' Dr Hillary told her gently._

_'Don't worry, doctor. I will make sure that Lindsay eats three proper meals a day from now on.' The look on Danny's face was one that Lindsay knew well. He had worn it after Lindsay had gone into an unsecured crime scene with no back up. The perp had still been inside and had knocked Lindsay down the stairs as he tried to escape. Lindsay had gone to the hospital for a broken rib and to have stitches in her chin. Danny had been furious with her and demanded that she never do anything like that again. They hadn't spoken for a few days after that. Lindsay had been angry with Danny for overreacting and Danny has been angry because of her behaviour. Lindsay hoped that this time would be different._

_'So nice to see a father involved.' Dr Hillary said, more to himself than anyone else. 'Right, Lindsay. Jump up on the bed and we will have a look to see how your baby is getting on.'_

_'Thank goodness. I've been needing to use the bathroom for ages.' As requested, Lindsay had dutifully filled her bladder before her scan. Now it was getting a little too full so Lindsay was grateful that the moment of the scan had finally arrived._

_Dr Hillary laughed as he pulled the ultrasound scanner closer to the bed. Lindsay lifted her top in preparation as Dr Hillary applied the gel to her stomach. Lindsay yelped and Danny looked at her in alarm._

_'Is everything alright?' He asked, worriedly. Lindsay smiled and nodded, reaching out for his hand._

_'Just a little cold, baby, that's all.' Lindsay told him. _

_Danny opened his mouth to speak but was silenced by a rhythmic sound. _

_'Baby's heart sounds nice and strong.' Dr Hillary commented as he looked at Danny's awed expression. 'Amazing, isn't it?'_

_Danny was unable to speak. He merely nodded, his eyes staring straight at Lindsay's stomach. In there was a baby, his baby. He had never felt so much love for someone he had never met._

_Moving the scanner slowly around Lindsay's abdomen, the doctor tried to locate the baby. Finally, he stopped and held it in position._

_'There's the head,' Dr Hillary pointed to the screen at the various body parts as he found them. 'There's an arm....And there's the leg.'_

_Lindsay swallowed, the lump in her throat growing in size. Gripping, Danny's hand tighter and tighter she attempted to blink away the tears and compose herself. She was surprised to look up and see that Danny's eyes were also glistened. Her composure went completely then as she wept silently and happily. Weeping for her baby and for seeing Danny so happy, so emotional, so wanting this baby. _

_Hearing her sniffles, Danny put his arm around her shoulder, holding her as best he could. He knew that he had screwed up many times in the past but now he believed that God was giving him an opportunity to make everything right again. He was determined not to screw this up as well._

_'Now, it's a little too early to tell the sex but would you like to know next time?'_

_'No.' Lindsay said, determinedly. Danny looked at her surprised. After all her comments about it being a 'he' that morning he had been sure that she would want to know. 'I just want to be surprised, alright?'_

_'That's fine, Lindsay. Some mothers want to know and some don't. Personally, I think it's quite special to find out in the delivery room.' Dr Hillary, turned the machine off and began to wipe the gel off Lindsay's stomach. 'I will just print out a copy of the scan for you. If you make your next appointment for about two weeks time, Lindsay.'_

_Lindsay nodded as Danny helped her off the bed. Grabbing her jacket, she slipped it on. Dr Hillary handed her the scan photo, shook hands with Danny and ushered them out of his room._

_'Let me see. Let me see.' Danny said, excitedly, holding his hand out for Lindsay to hand over the scan as soon as the door was closed behind them._

_'You saw it just moments ago on the screen, Danny.'_

_'I know but I just want to look at it again and again.' Lindsay smiled and handed it over. Holding it close up, Danny peered at it. 'Wow, that is absolutely amazing. I can't believe that tiny little blob is going to be our baby.'_

_'I know. It's amazing isn't it.' Lindsay's need for the toilet reared up again and she began dancing on the spot. 'Can you go and make my next appointment, please? Here is my card. I really need to go to the bathroom.'_

_Danny laughed as Lindsay hurried off in the direction of the ladies. He joined the appointments queue, getting a few dodgy looks from the pregnant ladies that stood in front of him. By the time Lindsay had reappeared out of the ladies, Danny was waiting for by the door._

_'Your appointment is two weeks today but at 1.30.'_

_'Thanks, Danny. Isn't that your day off?'_

_'Yes, it is. So only you have to square it with Mac.' Danny took Lindsay's hand as they stepped out into the cold air. They walked mostly in silence to the subway station, both personally reflecting on the doctor's appointment they had just been to._

_'Y'know, I'm surprised that you didn't want to find out the baby's sex before the delivery.' Danny said casually._

_'Why?' Lindsay's tone was defensive._

_'I just assumed you would want to find out, that's all.' Danny shrugged, trying to ease the situation. _

_'Well, I just don't want to find out, alright?' Lindsay let go of Danny's hand and stalked off. Danny sighed and hurried after her, calling out his apologies along the way._

_End Flashback_

_**_

Lindsay had given Danny the silent treatment for a couple of stops on the subway before deciding to explain her reasons for not wanting her scan. Lindsay's younger sister, Kiera was four years younger than her. For her previous two pregnancies, Lindsay and Lindsay's older brother, Tom, Lindsay's mother had not had an ultrasound scan being that she could not afford it. With her third pregnancy, money was better and the doctor's insisted that she had an ultrasound. Lindsay's mother had been adamant she did not want one, stating that she knew her baby was a girl and that it was healthy. 'But don't you want to be sure?' The doctor had asked. He explained the benefits of being sure of the baby's sex, so after much persuasion, she had the scan. The doctor told her the baby was a boy. 'No, it's a girl, I can feel it.' Lindsay's mother had insisted. But the doctor told her it was definitely a boy. A little confused, Lindsay's mother had prepared herself for her second son, decorating the nursery blue and buying boys clothing. When Kiera had popped out four months later, Lindsay's mother had been so shocked that she had gotten post-natal depression. The relationship between Kiera and her mother had always been strained and Lindsay did not want that to happen between her and her child.

As well as explanations for her behaviour, there had also been a serious ticking off from Danny about Lindsay's eating habits. From now on he was going to be preparing her breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lindsay had merely nodded, knowing that this would be a battle she did not, and could not, afford to lose.

'Montana? Dinner's ready!' The smell of Danny's lasagne came wafting to her nose and her stomach growled noisily. Standing up, she stretched and padded into the kitchen where Danny had laid the table and was now dishing up two plates of lasagne.

'That smells lovely, Danny.'

'Thanks, babe. I hope it's alright.' He set one plate in front of her and the other opposite. Grabbing himself a can of beer and a lemonade for Lindsay, he sat down.

'I can't believe that our vic, Mark Foreman, was killed ten days ago. Was Sid sure about this?' Danny asked between mouthfuls.

'Hey, remember our rule of know talking about work at home.' Lindsay took her sip of her lemonade. 'He's not 100% definite but he is certain that it was over a week ago. He just needs to run a few more tests to confirm.' She gave a little giggle as what she said reminded her of something.

'What's so funny?'

'I was just thinking about when I was doing my pregnancy tests. I must have taken at least twenty.' She shook her head at her silliness. 'They were all positive so I guess I took about eighteen too many.'

'How long had you known before telling me?' Danny had always been curious as to when she found out but had never asked.

Lindsay thought for a moment. 'About a week. The doctor confirmed it four days before I told you.'

'Why did you wait so long?'

'It was a lot for me to take in. We had only just started to get back on track and I was scared. Scared of what was going to happen to me, to us. I had to seriously consider if having the baby was the right thing to do. We can't deny that our jobs aren't dangerous and I did not want to have this baby just to leave it without a mother or father.'

'That won't happen.' Danny reached across the table to take her hand.

'You can't say that, Danny. Nobody knows what's going to happen. There is no certainty. Everyone dies sooner or later. With the jobs we do, we are much more at risk for it happening sooner.'

Danny stiffened at Lindsay's words. He hated her talking about death, especially hers. Danny knew that the risk was greater for them but that doesn't mean he wanted to talk about it.

'I'm sorry for scaring you, Danny, but it's the facts. Anyway, I was really scared about what to do, then I saw you talking to that little girl whose mother had been killed. I knew then and there that it would be difficult to raise this child but that together we would do it.'

Danny smiled and leaned over the table. 'We will definitely do it. I love you.' Danny gently kissed her on the lips.

'I love you too.' Lindsay smiled back. Standing up, the two of them cleared the table together. 'I'm washing up.'

'Hey, not fair. You always do the washing.' Danny moaned, he absolutely hated drying.

'Yea, but don't forget I'm pregnant with your baby so it's my way or the high way.'

'How long are you going to be using that against me?'

'Let's see...' Lindsay paused in the motion of washing the first plate. 'Well, seeing as after the pregnancy I will be the mother of your child – never!'

'Yes, but don't forget that once the baby has been born then I will be the father of your child so I will be getting my own way sometimes too.'

Lindsay grinned as she flicked some water at him. Yelping in shock, Danny quickly reached into the bowl and flicked some back. Laughing happily, Lindsay wrapped her arms around Danny's torso and gave him a squeeze. She was so glad he was going to be the father.

**

_Flashback_

_Lindsay glanced at her watch as she hurried out of the clinic. The doctor had been running late so Lindsay was in a rush to get back. Mac had given her an extended lunch to go to the clinic but even so, this would be pushing it. As Lindsay pushed her way through the swarms of people towards the subway entrance, she heard a voice calling her name._

_'Lindsay? Lindsay!' _

_Lindsay paled in shock. She knew that voice anywhere. Danny. Lindsay was really panicking now. What if Danny had seen where she had come out of? Maybe she could just slip away and pretend she hadn't heard him._

_'Hey, Lindsay. Didn't you hear me call you?' Danny's hand came to rest on her shoulder and she jumped in surprise. 'Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.'_

_'No, no. That's alright.' Lindsay said, shakily, She glanced around nervously. _

_'Is everything OK?'_

_'Yes, yes! Fine, absolutely fine. Nothing is wrong whatsoever.' Lindsay let out a forced chuckle. 'Wha- what are you doing here?'_

_'I found out that our vic was a patient at that clinic there.' Danny pointed to the building that Lindsay had exited only moments before. 'I was just on my way to find out what they knew about her. What about you?'_

_'I...er...' Lindsay was desperately trying to stall for time, to think of an excuse. 'Er...Mac called me to say that you had this lead and could I meet you down here at the end of my lunch break.'_

_'OK, great! Let's go in then and find out what they know.' Danny headed towards the clinic._

_'What now?' Lindsay asked, not moving from her spot. She knew that the receptionist would recognise her and then she would be screwed._

_'Well, that's what we are here for, isn't it?' Danny asked, turning around and looking a little confused._

_'You're right...hang on, my phone is ringing.' She fished her phone out of her pocket and flipped it open._

_'Hello, Mac?...Yes, I'm with Danny now. We are about to go inside....Pardon?....You want me to come back to the lab instead?....OK then, I'll see you soon.' She hung up and returned the phone to the pocket._

_'That was Mac, he says you can handle this on your own and I'm to go back to the lab. They have found some more bones that they want me to check for DNA.'_

_'Can't one of the lab techs do it?' Danny whined. He hadn't seen much of Lindsay in the past few days and had been looking forward to spending some time with her._

_'Apparently not. It's my job today. I'll see you later.' With that she hurried down into the subway entrance. At the bottom of the stairs, she quickly pulled her phone out and pressed the green button twice to return her previous phone call._

_'Hey, Kiera. Sorry about that. I was with Danny outside the clinic and we were due to go in on police business....No, I haven't told him yet....Because I don't know how he will react...I know, I know...Can I ring you tonight, babe? I'm just about to get on the subway...OK, love you....Bye!'_

_Sighing to herself, Lindsay once again pocketed her phone and made her way down to the trains. She knew that sooner or later she needed to tell Danny and at the moment, she wanted to take later._

_For the rest of the day, Lindsay avoided Danny like the plague. Whenever he entered a room she would quickly leave or pretend she was on an important phone call. Once she even slipped into the ladies when she saw him walking towards her in the corridor. _

_At 6pm her shift was over. Lindsay made her way into the locker room, relieved that she had managed to avoid Danny all day. She turned the corner and stopped in shock. There, standing in front of her locker was Danny. His arms were folded and a serious look was on his face._

_'Why are you avoiding me?' His voice was quiet and calm._

_'I'm not avoiding you.' Lindsay attempted to get into her locker but Danny refused to move._

_'Yes, you are. For the last few days you have been coming up with excuses not to get together after work. Then everytime I approach you today, you suddenly have somewhere much more important to be. It's almost like...' He trailed off, knowing exactly what it was almost like._

_'Almost like what?'_

_'Like when you were pushing me away before you returned to Montana. That's what this is, isn't it?' Danny's voice grew louder and louder. 'You're pushing me away, aren't you? You've met someone else and are pushing me away!'_

_Lindsay scoffed. 'You're one to talk aren't you?'_

_'Well, then what the heck is going on?!' Danny's voice barked out at her. _

_Lindsay sighed and leaned against the lockers. Then she opened her mouth and uttered two words._

_'I'm pregnant.'_

_**_

To be continued.

A/N: Hope you liked the chapter. I know I haven't really gotten onto the angsty stuff yet but I really wanted to incorporate pieces of background that will be important to the story later on. If you enjoyed it then please review!!!


	4. It's like being with family

**Better the Devil You Know**

OK, so chapter 4 is upon us. Things are going to really heat up in this chapter so hold onto your hats!! Thank you so much to the people who review and read this story. Also cheers to Laura and Amy for reading it through and giving me the confidence that I'm doing alright.

Remember – I wish the characters were mine but they aren't (except the ones that I made up in my head!)

Set after 5.09 – no spoilers any more!!! D/L all the way!!!

**

Chapter 4 – It's like being with family

Lindsay's grin reached from ear to ear as she finally spotted Nate come through the gate at Newark Airport. Being 6'4 with brown curly hair and piercing green eyes he was hard to miss.

'Nate! Nate!' She called, waving her hand, being so short she knew he may not be able to spot her so easily.

'Lindsay!' He beamed, making a beeline for her. As soon as he reached her, he dropped his bag and swung her up into his arms, a task that was very easy for him. They hugged and hugged until there was a little cough behind them.

Lowering Lindsay to the floor, he reached his hand behind her back. 'You must be Danny.'

'Yea, that's me.' Danny was attempting not to glare at this guy because he knew how much he meant to Lindsay. It was not easy though with the two of them hugging like that. 'So what brings you to our neck of the woods then?'

Nate placed his arm casually around Lindsay's shoulder, which made Lindsay glow with pride and made Danny nearly have an aneurysm. 'Well, when Bea told me that Lindsay had been in town a couple of weeks ago, I was so disappointed that I had missed her and had to come and see her.'

'Well, we're very glad you are here, aren't we Danny?' Lindsay asked looking at him pointedly.

'Yes, ecstatic.'

Lindsay rolled her eyes. Danny had told her that he wasn't jealous of Nate but over the weekend, everytime she mentioned his name the look on Danny's face was clear – jealousy. Maybe it was because she had mentioned it every two seconds or maybe because when Lindsay had shown a photo to Stella, Stella had said 'you two would have made such a lovely couple.' Lindsay knew there was no reason for Danny to fear Nate. She was with Danny and Nate knew this. Besides, there had never been anything sexual between the two of them ever.

Taking Danny's hand in hers, he seemed to relax slightly. She gave it a gentle squeeze and he turned to look at her, giving her an apologetic smile. She smiled back with forgiveness and nodded her head in the direction of Nate's bag. Sighing inside, Danny quickly picked it up and the three of them headed towards the car park.

'So, how long are you planning to grace us with your presence, Nate?' Danny asked casually as he attempted to keep up with the other two. Despite Lindsay being at a disadvantage with the extra weight she was carrying, it was nothing compared to the weight Danny had suddenly been lumbered with. What on earth had Nate packed – his tractor?

'Not sure yet, mate. Whenever Lindy Hop gets annoyed with me.' He said with a grin at Lindsay, who blushed back.

'I can't believe you just called me that!' She said, giving him a light push. Nate giggled and stuck his tongue out, quickly dodging out of the way of her hand.

_'Lindy Hop?' _Danny thought to himself. _'What sort of a nickname was that?' _Personally he thought Montana was a much better nickname for her.

Finally, they arrived at the car. And not a moment too soon, thought Danny, who was positive that his shoulder had now been dislocated due to the weight he had just lugged along. Dumping it with a sigh of relief into the boot, he clambered into the driver's seat. Realising that it was Lindsay and not Nate that he was now sitting next to, he gave a big smile.

Lindsay leaned over and gently kissed him on the cheek, before moving her head to whisper in his ear. 'I didn't want you doing anything stupid.'

Danny chuckled softly, daring to take a sneak peek at Nate as Lindsay drew back. Nate was watching them with interest and, for a split second, what appeared to Danny to be jealousy. Danny shook this feeling off and concentrated on driving back to the city. The journey was silent except for a few moments when Lindsay pointed out various landmarks to Nate. These were usually followed by a remark from Danny about how rubbish it actually was and that tourists really bugged him.

Finally, Danny stopped the car just short of the front door to Lindsay's apartment block. Noticing the difficulty Danny was having with Nate's bag, Jack, the doorman, quickly rushed over and took it from him. Danny smiled gratefully.

'Planning on having a threesome?' Jack asked slyly, glancing at the new man. Normally he wouldn't dream of speaking this way to a boyfriend of a resident, especially one who has a cop, but he and Danny had become good friends from the number of hours Danny had stood outside, begging Lindsay to let him up.

Danny playfully slugged him on the arm. 'Very funny. No this is Nate, an old friend of Montana's from Montana. He's staying for a few days. Hopefully not too long.' He muttered the last part under his breath. Jack grinned at him and the two men followed Lindsay and Nate inside.

**

'Now, are you sure you're going to be alright?' Lindsay stood in front of the sofa the following morning and looked down at Nate who was sitting on it, still in his sleepwear.

'Yes, MUM,' Nate emphasised the last word. 'I've got all your phone numbers, the key to your apartment, a map, a guide to New York, and a Metro Card. I'm all set.'

Lindsay smiled and rubbed his hair affectionately. 'OK, why don't you pop to the lab at lunchtime and Danny and I will take you out. You remember where it is?'

Nate opened the map and proudly potted to the circle that Lindsay had drawn on the map. She had also marked her apartment, the nearest subway station and various places she thought he may enjoy.

'Very good! My lunch break will be at 12.15 so try to be there a bit before. It takes about twenty minutes on the subway.' There was a sudden knock on the door. 'Oh, that'll be Danny.'

'That's impressive that you know when you're lunch break is. Usually, when I ring to find out when you can talk you have absolutely no idea.'

'Well, that's one of the benefits of being pregnant.' Lindsay called over her shoulder.

Nate heard the door open and Danny greeting his girlfriend with a 'hello' and a kiss. There was then hushed voices followed by a little giggle from Lindsay. Before Nate had a chance to move closer to hear what they were saying, the pair entered the living area, Danny's arm flung casually over Lindsay's shoulders.

'Morning, Nate.' Danny said with a smile. He had promised Lindsay that he was going to make an effort with Nate. After all, there was really nothing for him to be worried about. Lindsay had explained to him that she and Nate had been friends since they attended kindergarten together. Lindsay had always seen him as her best mate and never as anything more.

'Morning, Danny.' Nate returned the politeness, although it appeared that his smile was a lot more forced than Danny's had been.

'Danny, I've invited Nate to come and have lunch with us. So, I thought we could go to Ray's.'

'Sounds good to me. You know I never say no to Ray's.' Danny grinned at Lindsay and quickly kissed her on the cheek. 'Well, I guess we'd better get going otherwise Mac's going to get angry.'

He picked up Lindsay's coat from the end of the sofa and helped her into it. 'Well, he will get angry with me not you.'

'Another benefit of being pregnant.' Lindsay explained to Nate who chuckled loudly. 'Right, we will see you later.' She walked over to the couch, leaned down and kissed him on the head. Danny's hand stretched out to her, she returned to him and took hold of it. Waving in unison the pair headed out of the apartment.

**

'So, what did you guys get up to after I left last night?' Danny asked as they made their way to the subway. After Nate had finished unpacking his things the three of them had gone out for dinner before returning to watch a movie they picked up from the rental shop. Danny had gone home at around 11 o'clock mainly due to the fact that he had no clean clothes currently at Lindsay's place.

'Not much,' Lindsay shrugged non-committally. 'Just chatted about the old times, y'know. He's the only one left in Bozeman out of our group of friends, it must be difficult with everyone having moved away.'

'Who else was there?' Danny asked, swiping his card that would allow him through the turnstile and into the subway station. Lindsay quickly followed suit and hurried after him.

'Well, there's Barry who married his girlfriend from college and moved to San Francisco. Kevin inherited a farm near Buchanan in North Dakota. And...' She trailed off, knowing Danny would realise who she was talking about.

Danny gave her a sad smile and squeezed her hand. 'Why didn't Nate move away?'

'I suppose he never had a need to. His parents were quite poorly so he spent a few years looking after them. When they passed away, he felt that he could never sell their house nor let anyone else live in it. Don't get me wrong, he's made new friends but it's never really the same thing.'

'Is that why he's come to see you?' Their train pulled into the station and the two of them hopped on board. Quickly making his way to an empty seat he put his leg up on it so that he was saving it and showing his police badge to anyone who would dare to ask him for it. Lindsay tapped him on the shoulder and he moved out of the way, letting her sit down.

'In answer to your question, yes. He's taken a few months off work and is going around all of us. I think he was visiting Kevin when I went home. Actually, Kevin's girlfriend was in Bozeman whilst I was there and I met up with her, sweet girl. I think Nate's really enjoying getting connected with all of us again because he said to me that it was like being with family again.'

'He obviously means a lot to you.' Danny said, trying to word his sentence correctly, not wanting to upset her by his tone of voice.

Lindsay thought for a moment. 'Well, they all do really. But it was after...after the girls died that we became really close. Barry and Kevin dealt with it in one way and Nate and I in another. He was a lot more sensitive than the others and he took their deaths hard. Almost as bad as I did.' Tears were starting to form in Lindsay's eyes as they often did when she talked for too long about her friends.

Danny gently pulled him to her and gave her a squeeze before talking about something happier. 'Y'know what Nate is doing is not a bad idea. Maybe we could do that after the baby's born, go and visit all your friends. We could do it as part of our honeymoon.'

'Yes, but only people who are getting married go on honeymoons.' Lindsay reminded him as she stood up to get off the train. Danny had not mentioned getting married since that day he had proposed after asking her about her family's medical history. Not exactly the way he had imagined doing it and had vowed to himself that next time it would be much better. That had been a few weeks ago now and remembering what Lindsay had said about it being the wrong time, he was beginning to wonder when the right time would be. So, he decided to begin dropping hints, never actually proposing but seeing what her reaction would be. This time it had been negative but he could always try again another day.

'Well, even if it wasn't for our honeymoon we could still go, couldn't we?' Danny quickly followed her onto the platform with into the crowds of people.

'Yes, I think it's a wonderful idea. Thank you.' She quickly pulled him to her and gave him a long, hard kiss.

'Hey, don't thank me. Thank Nate.'

'Nah, you're much more fun to thank.' She told him with a grin, leaning in for another kiss. Danny was certainly not complaining, she could thank him all day if she wanted.

**

'Right, Danny, Lindsay – updates. What have you found out?' Mac walked into the layout room where they were both hard at work. Lindsay was in the process of scanning the imprint from the vic's wrist into the computer, whilst Danny was processing the bullet that Sid had pulled from the body.

'I'm just scanning the imprint in to see if I can find out the make of the watch that the vic was wearing. Mac, obviously someone kept this body well preserved for the past ten days. After all, we all initially thought that he had been shot that morning. Also, the imprint on the wrist is fresh so it was definitely not removed at time of death.' Lindsay turned to the computer screen as the image flashed up. Peering closely at the screen, she closed in on a particular area.

'What's that?' Mac asked, gesturing at the screen. Lindsay recognised the cymbal immediately.

'It's a Kelvin Hoat watch, very rare and expensive. Each watch has a unique code so that it can be traced back to the owner. I'm going to look to see if the code has imprinted itself onto the skin.' She expertly scanned in on the area where she knew the code to be. Then frowned slightly. 'That's odd. The code is always at the 10 o'clock position, along with the date that the watch was purchased but they are both missing. It appears that someone has scratched them off.'

'Why would someone do that?'

'Maybe because of this.' Danny stood up from what he was doing and opened up an evidence bag. Pulling the vic's cellphone out, he quickly plugged it into the computer and went into the phone's outbox. He opened up a message which read, 'Thanks for giving me your watch. I have what I always wanted in return for giving you what you always wanted. Go to the cops and I'll take you down too.'

Mac slowly pieced the bits of information together. 'It appears that Mark Foreman did something for the watch owner in return for the watch.'

'Yea, something illegal.' Danny quipped to himself. 'So do you think the watch owner is our suspect?'

'He must be, otherwise why would you deface a Kelvin Hoat watch,' Lindsay replied, reaching for her bottle of water and taking a sip. 'He must have known that we could trace it back to him, so he probably scratched it off before handing it over to Mark. He knew that if Mark got caught and squealed on him then the watch could be used to find him.'

'So, why not remove the watch at the time of the murder?'

'Boom!' Danny suddenly shouted out as his computer made a confirmation sound that it had found something. 'I've been running the bullet through IBIS and it came from a gun that was used in a previous crime.'

'What was it?' Both Lindsay and Mac leaned over either side of Danny, trying to get a better look

'It was used for poaching in North Dakota back in 2006.' Danny tapped the keyboard a few times to find out who it was registered to. 'Look at that. It's registered to a one Mark Foreman.' A picture appeared next to the name and their vic was looking back at them.'

'I guess that explains it then.' Lindsay said, gazing thoughtfully between her screen and Danny's. 'Can I run my theory, Mac?'

Mac nodded and turned to Danny who was grinning, they both enjoyed Lindsay's theories.

'I think that Mark must have gotten greedy and wanted more than the watch. After all, the message was sent five days before TOD. Mark probably realised that he could bribe the watch owner more than he already had so must have gone round to see them with his gun. I think Mark threatened this guy and a fight broke out, the gun ended up in the hands of our suspect, who shot Mark in blind panic. I don't think that this guy would have kept the body for ten days if he had been planning on killing him. I reckon that he held onto him whilst he figured out what to do. Due to all the worrying, he completely forgot about the watch until the last moment when the body got dumped and he removed it.'

'I see your point, Lindsay,' Mac said respectfully. But Mac being Mac he always had to turn things around and look at it from another view. 'But what if this was all planned?'

'What do you mean?'

'We know that the last place Mark was definitely alive was in Jamestown three weeks ago. There is no record of him ever getting on a plane, a bus or train. His car was found at his house and he definitely did not get a taxi because all his money is still in his wallet. This has to mean that he was murdered in Jamestown.'

'So, why then was his body dumped in New York?' Danny said slowly, catching on to Mac's theory. 'If he was murdered in a panic then there would be no reason to drive his body over 1500 miles. OK, I can see that you may hang onto the body for the ten days but then you would just dump it somewhere nearby.'

'I definitely think this murder was planned and the dumping of the body in Manhattan is a message.'

'Message to whom, Mac?' Lindsay wanted to know.

'I'm not sure, Lindsay. But we are going to find out.'

**

Lindsay groaned in frustration. She had been trying to figure out who their killer was but everytime she thought she had gotten somewhere, it only led to a dead end. Lindsay knew that her best lead was the watch. When Sid had examined the body there had been no prints or trace anywhere so Lindsay knew there was no point in running anything. If only she could find out who that watched belong to. A Kevin Hoat watch was something that was treasured and only given away as a last resort. The owner would wear it with pride and the engraving of the code would mean that if ever the worst was to happen and it got lost, it could be found as soon as possible.

'Lindsay, are you running those prints?' Stella's voice shook Lindsay awake.

Lindsay turned, confused. 'What prints? Sid checked the body and there weren't any.'

'Well, I just got a phone call from the new ME saying that some prints have suddenly appeared. They probably took a little while to come up since the body had been frozen.'

Stella turned at the sound of a knock. A lab tech was holding out an evidence bag which contained the prints and two photographs of their location on the body.

'Looking at the position of these fingers, two of them on the neck.' Stella said, pointing them out.

'Our killers possibly? Wanting to make sure that he was dead?'

'Looks that way. Let's run them through and see what we get.'

Lindsay opened the scanner and laid the prints inside. The scan whirred into live and the green light moved up once, twice and then stopped. The print blinked onto the screen and Lindsay clicked the button to do a nationwide search.

'So, how are things going with you and Danny?'

'Great, really great. It's been fantastic just getting to know each other again. Although, there won't be much of that going on this week.'

'Ah yes, your visitor. Got lots of things planned for him?'

'He's coming here at lunchtime and we're-'

'Lindsay Monroe?' A voice interrupted them. The women turned to the doorway to see a tall man with balding hair that neither recognised along with three of their own security men.

'That's me.' Lindsay said slowly, raising her hand as if she were in school.

'My name is Special Agent Harry Nichols, North Dakota FBI.' As he spoke, he flipped open his badge to prove that he was really who he said he was.

'Hey, Lindsay are you read-' Danny came sauntering in to the room, stopping dead when he saw Special Agent Nichols and the three security guards. 'What's going on?'

'Danny, in a minute.' Lindsay held up her finger, telling him to be quiet. 'What can I do for you, sir?'

Suddenly the computer flashed up a picture and a name. A sudden gasp filled the room.

'Lindsay Monroe, I'm arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Mark Foreman.'

**

A/N: Mwah-ha-ha! Thought I'd give you a bit of a cliffhanger there!! If you want to find out more, you'd better review!!!


	5. Something Doesn't Add Up

**Better the Devil You Know**

So, I left you with a cliffhanger last time, so I hope you've been waiting in eager anticipation for this next instalment. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I've enjoyed thinking of it and writing it. Cheers to Amy and Laura for being so supportive.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Remember, I don't own any of the characters. D/L all the way – set after 5.09

**

Chapter 5 – Something Doesn't Add Up

Time. It was a strange thing. Even when you couldn't see it, you knew it existed. From looking at the position of the sun you would have an idea as to the time of day, and as you lay in bed there would always be that question when first you would rouse from slumber, is it time to get up? When the days are normal, time would pass by without so much as a passing glance. But when all you can think about is time, each second feels like ten and each hour feels like a day has passed.

Lindsay wasn't entirely sure how long she had been sitting in that cell for, but if felt as if she'd been in there nearly a quarter of a year. Realistically, it had only been 48 hours but time had lost all sense to her. Her movements were determined by the sounds she could hear and each time there was a noise it would prompt her into shifting positions on her cold, hard mattress. Often during the night the wardens, on their hourly rounds, would see the small, petite detective sitting on her bed, not sleeping, not blinking, not moving. She never slept, at least that's how it appeared to the wardens. However, Lindsay had learnt exactly what time a warden would stop, peer inside her cell and then walk onto the next. So at some point during the 59 minutes and 55 seconds she was alone, she would allow herself to let go for just a moment and give in to one of the things she desperately needed. The other one was out of her reach, not by default but by choice.

During the two days she had been inside her six by four box, she had not seen any of her friends. Not that they hadn't tried. In shifts, the team had sat outside the cells waiting for her to agree to see them. Every two hours or so, someone would get hungry or tired and would leave, quickly being replaced by someone else. The only person not to move from his post was Danny. He sat, determined, eyes fixed onto the barred door. He would not move and he would not speak, except to say in a low, dangerous voice 'She did not do it.', anytime the team would begin to speculate as to what happened.

The only person who had managed to get into see Lindsay was her lawyer. Jeremy Hidock was the best in all of Manhattan and a close, personal friend of Mac's who owed him a favour. They had met twice and each time Jeremy would go over the procedures that would take place, even though she knew them off by heart. She hadn't spoken to him yet and the only reason he was allowed inside her cell was because she had no choice. Her only acknowledgement of him was a quick nod of the head when he asked her if she understood what was going to happen.

The police and the FBI had attempted to question her but to no avail. She had merely sat on that cold, metal chair, her legs drawn up to her chest with her arms resting on her knees. Resting her chin on top of them, she stared down at nothing in particular. They had tried being her friend and they had tried to scare her into talking but nothing worked. She still just sat there, legs drawn up, staring into middle space.

**

It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when Lindsay spoke for the first time. The warden was just doing his rounds and as he peered inside cell 34 he got a shock to find its occupant standing by the bars.

'I want to see Flack.'

'Flack?' The warden repeated, unsure what or who this was.

'Yes. Detective Flack. I want to see him.'

'I'm not sure that's allow-'

'Look, if you want me to answer your questions then let me speak to Detective Flack. I don't care how many other people are in that room with us but the only one I will answer will be Detective Flack.'

A few minutes later, after much deliberation, the door to the cells opened and the warden beckoned to Flack.

'She wants to talk to you.' He gave Danny a sympathetic look and then quickly plastered on his professional face. He knew Lindsay had chosen him because of their friendship but there was no way he would allow anything to stop the chance for her to tell her story. He had to come across completely professional, listening to her story as a detective who would make a judgement.

As he stepped inside the dark corridor the door slid shut behind him with a clunk. As soon as this happened, another door slid open, creaking and groaning every few seconds. Flack saw a figure step out of the shadows and into the flickering light. The orange prison clothes that Lindsay had been given stretched slightly over her expanding stomach but the rest of it hung limply off her body. The cuffs had been turned up several times but were still scraping the floor, her white socked feet only just being peeking out from them.

Head down, not daring to look towards her friends or Danny, knowing that if she did her resolve would break, she followed down the corridor away from them, Flack falling into step behind them. Stopping at the far end, the warden motioned to one of his colleagues on the other side to open the gate. A buzzer sounded and the gate slid to the right. The three figures disappeared from view as they stepped through and the gate slid back into place.

**

The interrogation room was dark and cold. Lindsay drew her feet up onto the chair and shivered involuntarily. A moment later something warm, safe and smelling of Danny was wrapped around her. She looked up in surprise at Flack, who was standing over her with a concerned smile.

'Danny thought you'd might like it.'

Lindsay smiled to herself as she remembered the first time she had discovered Danny's 'old man jumper'. It had been when they had first been going out and she had decided to pop round unexpectedly to his apartment. She managed to slip inside his building when one of the neighbours was coming out so it was a bit of a shock for Danny when there was a knock on the door. The moment Lindsay saw Danny she burst out laughing and spluttered on about 'Cool, macho Danny having an old man jumper'. Danny tried to defend himself saying it was very warm and he liked it. Whilst watching a movie there had been a sudden power cut and the apartment grew colder and colder. Even though the throw from the back of the couch was wrapped snugly around the pair, she was still cold. So Danny removed his 'old man jumper' and placed it on her. From that moment on that jumper had unofficially become hers and whenever she was at his, the jumper would go on.

'Linds, why-' Don started but was quickly interrupted by Lindsay.

'Can we do business before pleasure please?'

'Sure. There will be two other police officers in here, a member of FBI and someone from IAB to make sure my questioning is above board. Do you understand?'

Lindsay nodded and leaned her hand on the back of the chair. She closed her eyes briefly, knowing that Don could keep her safe if it was needed.

She wasn't sure how long her eyes had been shut before the door opened and in trooped all the people that Don had told her about. They scattered themselves about the room, making sure that none of them were restricting the view of the one way mirror. Lindsay rolled her eyes, she knew what that mirror was for, had they forgotten that she was a detective herself.

A video camera was being set up so that the interview could be recorded for use in court later. Flack took up the seat opposite Lindsay, placing her case file down on the table between them.

'This is Detective Donald Flack Jr interviewing Detective Lindsay Monroe in relation to the murder of Mark Foreman. The time is 4.32pm on December 18th. Could you please state your full name, date of birth and address for the record please.'

'Lindsay Marie Monre, June 7th 1974, Apart 6B 1222 East 50th Street Manhattan.'

Flack pulled a photo out of the file and slid it across the table in front of her. Lindsay glanced at it quickly and then leaned back.

'Do you recognise this man?'

'Yes. That is Mark Foreman whose body I saw with you last Friday.'

'Is that why your fingerprints are on him?'

'No, Flack. I did not touch him at that time.' Lindsay said, rolling her eyes. She knew that Flack was doing his job but this was just ridiculous. He was asking questions as if he had no idea what was going on.

'So, you did touch him then?'

'I touched him when I was looking at him with Sid but I was wearing gloves at the time.'

'How do you explain your fingerprints on the body?'

'What do my fingerprints have to do with anything? I mean, all they show is that I touched him. It does not prove that I killed him!'

'No, they don't. But the position of them prove that you had an altercation with him.' A deep, cold voice spoke up from the shadows.

Lindsay glanced over in its direction. 'Who are you?'

'I'm Special Agent Harry Nichols. I'm -'

'Oh yes. You're my arresting officer. Can you please explain why my fingerprints show an altercation?'

'They were positioned on the upper arm area, four fingers in a veritcal line with the thumbprint wrapped around. This shows a solid grip taken to him. It shows that you grabbed him. Do you want to tell me why?'

'No, I do not want to tell you why because I did not grab him! I have never seen this man before in my life. The first time I saw him was lying dead in the middle of the road in New York.' Lindsay sat back in her chair and took a few deep breaths. She needed to calm down. This definitely wasn't looking good for her.

'Where were you the days before you found the body, Detective Monroe?'

'I was in Bozeman visiting my family. I was going to tell them about my baby.' She gave a small smile as she looked down, rubbing her bump with affection.

'So, what happened whilst you were there?'

**

_Flashback_

_'No, the flight was alright.....No one actually. Had two seats all to myself....Yeah, yeah....' Lindsay listened absent-mindedly to what Danny was telling her. She had the phone jammed between her ear and shoulder as she attempted to hang her clothes up in the wardrobe. 'That sounds great....They took it really well actually. Obviously my brothers were a bit concerned when they heard you were the father but once I told them that I would be able to kick your ass if needed they were soon really happy.' Lindsay laughed at Danny who was laughing at what she had said and managed to choke on the lemonade he was drinking. 'I'm just going to have dinner and then chill out tonight....Tomorrow? Might help around the farm for a bit...Yes, DAD, I'll be careful. Then tomorrow night I'm meeting up with some old friends in town....OK, will do. I'll see you in a few days....We love you too.' _

_She hung the phone up and tossed it onto the bed. Lindsay hated having crumpled clothes and wanted to get everything out of her suitcase and hung up before her mother called everyone to dinner. Family dinners were a big thing in the Monroe family and if you were at home then you were required to be at dinner on time. The only excuse you were allowed for being late, or not being there at all, was death. Either your own or someone else's. Lindsay loved these big family dinners where everyone would get together and share what they had done. It made her so sad these days that families did not spend time together so when she found out that she was pregnant her family, Danny, Lindsay and their child, would endeavour to eat at least one meal together a day. If that had to be at the lab, then so be it, because nothing was going to infringe on family time. When she had told Danny that this was going to be one of the rules he had been a bit sceptical. The Messers had never been ones for big family dinners and there were two times in the year when they would definitely all get together – Christmas and Thanksgiving. Danny had enjoyed not having to tell his parents about what he had gotten up to and he equally enjoyed not having to listen to what they had done. But Lindsay had insisted that it was going to happen and, not wanting to upset a hormonal, pregnant woman, Danny had relented._

_Lindsay had put away her final item and had just settled onto the bed for a five minute rest when her mum announced that dinner was ready. Lindsay groaned, wanting to stay where she was for a few minutes but also knew that she couldn't be late. So she counted to ten and then heaved herself off the bed and made her way downstairs to the dining room._

_The table was fully seated with one chair in the middle on the right hand side for Lindsay. Everyone had their set place for meal times and it had been that way for as long as Lindsay could remember. Even after everyone had grown up and moved out they still had the same mealtime places. Lindsay slipped in to her seat as best she could, making a mental note to be early for dinner next time so she had more room to manoeuvre herself._

_Seated at one end of the table was Lindsay's mother, Verity. Verity was short in stature, like Lindsay, with blue eyes that sparkled and greying-brown hair. She was softly-spoken but her word was law and no one dared to disobey it. At the other end of the table sat Lindsay's father Henry. Henry was a tall man and looked as if he should belong in the forces with his muscular frame. However, due to bad eyesight he had never signed up and had taken over his father's farm when he had retired. Henry was in the process of handing the farm over to his oldest son, Henry Jr, which would happen sometime in the following summer. Henry Jr, or JR as he was known to his friends, currently resided in the cottage that stood at the other end of the farm with his wife, Paula, and their two boys, Gregory and Patrick. JR was seated on Lindsay's left with Paula and the boys sitting in the three chairs opposite them. In the final chair on Lindsay's right sat the youngest member of the family, twenty year old Thomas. Thomas had been born ten years after Lindsay had arrived, which had certainly been a shock at the time. All three siblings got along like most siblings do, there was love and there was fighting but they all knew the others would be there for them._

_Dinner was loud and messy, as it usually was everytime all the Monroe's got together. The first time Danny had joined them for dinner he had gone into shock and was extremely quiet for the next few hours. He told Lindsay the next day that he had never experienced anything like it. Not even at high school in the dining room when there was a food fight going on. Lindsay had laughed and said that if you didn't talk loudly your point wouldn't be heard, and if you didn't eat quickly then you wouldn't get food. Danny retorted by saying 'So that's why you eat like that all the time.' Which earned him a smack with the pillow._

_By the following evening, Lindsay was grateful to be getting out of the house. She had spent the whole day sat on the couch doing absolutely nothing. Everytime she had attempted to move her mother had appeared from nowhere and had gotten Lindsay whatever she wanted. The only place Lindsay was allowed to go was the bathroom. As she finished applying her eye shadow there as a knock at the door. Lindsay heard the door open, voices greeting each other and then the door closed. Then there was the thud, thud, thud as someone pounded up the stairs. Lindsay took a breath as the door flung itself open and she found herself wrapped in the arms of her best friend, Gracie._

_Gracie and Lindsay had been born three days apart at Bozeman Hospital. Their mothers had been in beds next to each other and became good friends. Every week they would meet up for play dates and as their daughters grew older the two friendships grew stronger and stronger. At elementary school they made firm friends with Kaycie, Beatrice and Penny and the five of them formed a little group. But everyone knew that Gracie and Lindsay were best friends. At high school their group was joined by Barry, Nate and Kevin. Gracie had not been there that fateful night, for which Lindsay was forever grateful._

_'Oh my word, look at you!' Gracie held her friend at arms length and took in her growing stomach._

_'Yea, I know. I'm getting fat.' Lindsay grumbled playfully, giving her friend a shove._

_'No, you're not. You're getting absolutely beautiful.'_

_'You sound just like Danny.'_

_'How's it going with you two now?'_

_'No change from when I spoke to you last. Everything is going great but there is still a tiny part of me that doesn't trust him.'_

_'Sweetie, he cheated on you, it's understandable. I personally think you are very brave in taking him back, I'm not sure I could ever do it.'_

_'Well, there isn't just me to think about anymore,' Lindsay said, giving her stomach a rub. 'I would never want my child to grow up without two parents. Everyone makes mistakes and I'm certainly not perfect.'_

_'OK....we need to get you out of the house and pronto. You are getting way too serious for a girlie night out.' Gracie quickly gathered up Lindsay's belongings and ushered her out the door. They walked downstairs together, both chorused a 'Bye!' to the household and left._

_Half an hour later, the girls were settled into a booth at the only pub in town. Gracie was drinking beer, she had two on the go claiming that she was drinking Lindsay's as well, and Lindsay was on her second pineapple juice and lemonade. They were having a brilliant time together, reminiscing about the old times and what Lindsay was going to do once the baby had been born._

_'Excuse me, are you Lindsay Monroe and Gracie Hetton?' The girls looked up in unison to see a woman with blonde hair and a friendly smile standing at the end of the table._

_'Yes, I'm Gracie and this is Lindsay,' Gracie jerked her thumb in Lindsay's direction, who nodded her greeting. 'Who are you?'_

_'I'm Vivienne Gold, I'm-'_

_'You're Kevin's girlfriend aren't you?' Lindsay said, suddenly remembering where she had heard that name. 'I spoke to him on the phone last month and he told me all about you.'_

_'Wow, I'm famous!' All three girls gave a small chuckle and Vivienne offered her hand to first Gracie and then Lindsay._

_'Would you like to join us?' Lindsay offered, gesturing to the other side of the booth, which was empty. _

_'I would love to but first I need to go to the bathroom.' She gave a wave as she disappeared into the crowd._

_End Flashback_

**

'Why did you stop there?' Special Agent Nichols asked.

'I just remembered something. That night, after Vivienne had returned from the bathroom, I went to get the drinks in. There was a guy at the bar who was a bit drunk and a bit over friendly. I may have been a little physical to get my point across that I wasn't interested.'

'Are you saying that you grabbed him by the arm?'

'I may have done. I-I can't remember.'

'Shall I tell you what I think happened? I think he sobered up a little later on and came to apologise about his behaviour. But you were having none of it and so you shot him.'

'No, that's not what happened. I only grabbed his arm and it wasn't even Mark Foreman.'

'Are you sure? The pub was dark and so was the parking lot where you killed him. Did you ever actually see his face?'

Lindsay sighed. 'No.' She admitted quietly.

'Detective Monroe, what I cannot believe is that you would kill this man, who you only met for the first time that night and-'

'But what about the...' Lindsay trailed off as something twigged inside her head.

'What about the what?' Special Agent Nichols asked.

'Nothing and I have nothing more to say.' She stood up and made her way to the door that would lead back to the cells. Flack quickly joined her as they waited for the door to be opened.

'Flack, they think that I killed him a man that I had never met before.' Lindsay murmured quietly under her breath.

'So?'

'Just before I got arrested we found a message on his phone from the killer. That means whoever it is would have known him and not be meeting him for the first time when they killed him.'

'What are you thinking?'

'I'm thinking that something funny is going on here and I'm going to need your help.'

'With what?'

'Getting me out.'

**

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that chapter. I know there is a lot going on and everyone is probably going 'huh?'. Don't worry everything will make sense soon!!


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